"Take My Word For It!" is a one-of-a-kind creative writing program for kids.
We believe that when their imaginations are ignited, kids are more engaged and enthusiastic about learning. Our programs encourage students to find their writer's voice through an innovative curriculum taught in after-school and community-based settings.
"Take My Word For It!" is a word-incubator - a place where kids can feel safe and supported while they grow as writers.

August 10, 2012

On Wednesday, students created wire "characters" to sketch in different poses to aid in drawing their book characters. We learned about perspective to create backgrounds and different points of view. We discussed "visual flow" to make our book and story look interesting with recognizable characters throughout.

Today we had a busy and productive afternoon- it zipped by! All the students created their book cover and began pasting in the art they created and adding illustrations. I worked with each camper individually so they felt confident about pulling their book together. Tomorrow everyone will paste or write their story into the book. WOW!

Take a look at preview photos of some of their book covers and illustrations.

-Laurie Croft, Art Teacher

The Writing Edition:

We started off the morning talking about kids who don't have access to books and don't have a bookshelf crammed with their own favorite books at home. Campers brought in some of the books they're ready to part with to donate to The East Bay Children's Book Project. Founded and run by retired librarians and teachers, the EBCBP get books to kids who would otherswise not have them. www.eastbaychildrensbookproject.org.

To get the creative juices flowing, our first writing activity today was a free-write prompt: "What I hate about being a kid is..." Here are some of the sentiments expressed:

"What I hate about being a kid is I can't go to the moon, I can't drive, I can't stay up all night, and I don't got dat ca$h..."

- Adrian

Adrian and Claire (Instructor)

Amira

Milagro

Fatima

Diego, Lucas, and Dante

Emily and Simone

Tyler

What I hate about being a kid is that grown-ups never understand you when you are explaining something."

-Arielle

Arielle

Sophie

Elizabeth (Instructor), LyLy, and Alicia

"I hate that I have to live with my family. (Actually I don't hate living with my family, it's just that I want to live by myself!)"

- Alicia

We spent the rest of the morning finishing, editing and proofreading our children's books which are shaping up to be quite impressive.

August 9, 2012

The East Bay Children’s Book Project is helping the Friends of the Oakland Public School Libraries re-stock and re-open shuttered Oakland public school libraries. But what if a school has a library but no librarian to run it and to guide the students who use it? You might be surprised at the bitterness of the debate on this question.

According to the State Department of Education, as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 2, 2012, fewer than one in four school libraries has a credentialed librarian. Perhaps even more shockingly, that number is plummeting: down to 900 from 1,100 just two years ago. Money is tight, and schools may see librarians as expendable. So librarians’ jobs fall to classroom teachers (who may or may not have a library credential or training), or even to volunteers.

So, does it matter, as long as the library doors stay open?

No, according to Ze’ev Wurman, a Silicon Valley executive who participated in the development of California education standards and served as a policy adviser for the U.S. Department of Education. The Chronicle article quotes Wurman: “In the elementary grades especially, librarians are essentially teacher’s aides, doing a variety of things that have little to do with books or literacy, per se.” Wurman also says research shows giving schools grants for their libraries doesn’t increase the amount of materials checked out.

Nonsense, says East Bay Children’s Book Project volunteer Raynor Voorhies, a retired East Bay teacher librarian. As Voorhies noted in a letter to the editor, librarians are the key to actually connecting students with books: “Circulation and access increase when knowledgeable teacher librarians use their expertise to promote, introduce and connect students with books and information resources. Would this same Silicon Valley executive expect his product to move off the shelves without qualified staff to advertise, market and keep the doors open?” Another letter from an elementary school librarian stated that Wurman fails to understand what a librarian does: “all I do is ‘literacy’.”

Some high school students were asked what they thought of a school library staffed by teachers or volunteers. Their view: Teachers are far too busy, and underpaid for what they do as it is. The school library may be the only place a student has access to computers, and helping with that aspect of their library work is a full-time job, not some add-on to an already full plate. Volunteers are great, but you need someone who is paid and required to be there. Libraries need librarians.

Why should you care? Because every child needs books, and many children need help getting access to books and to information. Their literacy may depend on it.

Please join the conversation and let us know what you think by commenting below.

August 8, 2012

Our campers explored two inspiring free-write prompts yesterday, one about their name and one about an emotion. Here are some of the results:

My name is Dante. My name is made from plastic. I found my name in a cereal box My name can be a super-hero. If I lost my name I would change it.

-Dante

My fear is a haunted house. My fear is made from nerves. I found my fear in a graveyard My fear can be really scary. If I lost my fear I would be very happy.

-Alicia

My name is a flowing breeze. It is made from sounds from outside the box. I found it on the tip of my tongue. My name can bring pollen from flowers. If I lost my name ina sea of words it would come find me.

August 7, 2012

The students are excited about writing and illustrating their Children's books and so am I!

On Monday we looked at books and different illustration styles, tecniques and mediums artists use. We experimented with different tecniques and materials exploring pencil, sharpies, and watercolors. Students learned how to incorporate illustration into letters by creating their name as flowers, animals and patterns. The campers all received newsprint sketchpads and spent the end of the day sketching ideas for their book characters. On Tuesday we continued exploring different art mediums so each individual can choose a material they enjoy using the most. We got tempera paints out, learned how to mix colors and created paintings. We also made bold oil pastel drawings on black paper. Students pulled out their sketchbooks and we practiced drawing faces that show different emotions. I've been talking to the campers individually and working with them to develop their character and background art and some of them are already sketching illustrations for their book.

-Laurie Croft, art teacher

The Writing Edition: Bedtime Story Excerpts

Tyler- My character’s name is Bob, and he lives on a farm.

Adrian- My character is fat kid named Poncho and his challenge is the Super Taco Grande Mucho Gigante.

Arielle-My character’s name is Saddy, and he is a blue sphere.

Diego- My character’s name is Bob-John-Joe-Jack and he can fly.

Simone- My character is a little boy named Tommy and he gets lost from his family.

Amira- Mine is about a boy named Carmu who dreams of being a farmer.

Jiana-My character’s name is Cleo and she lives in a cave.

Dante- My character is a kid named Jimmy Bean who lives in Mexico and his parents work at Mexicano McDonalds.

Milagro- My main character is named Shirley and whoever makes her mad in the story falls into mud.

Fatima- My character is named Speedy-Deee and he is a dinosaur who can outdrive the police, in a sports car.

Sophie- My character is a pig named Scooey that goes to Piglet High School.

Alicia- My character’s name is Payson. She is a swimmer and she is an Olympic gold medalist.

Grace- My character’s name is Graffiti Can Sam, and he is a can of spray paint who goes out and paints stuff.

Emily- My character’s name is Amanda Bobbleton, who does not want her baby sister to be born.

Lucas- My character is a kid named Freddy, and he lives in a casino in Las Vegas.

LyLy- My character’s name is Emily Roberts and she has a magic teddy bear that takes her to different places in her dreams.

Aaron- My characters is Mader and I am still deciding what he’s going to do but it has to do with movies.

August 2, 2012

We started off Wednesday morning with some Observational Drawing. Campers first did warm up drawings called Gesture Drawings which are quick- sometimes only 30 seconds. From there we did extended Contour Drawings. Then campers selected a Gesture Drawing to translate into a 3-dimensional wire sculpture. Students spent the latter part of the morning working on preliminary sketches that tomorrow they will begin to transpose into illustrations of the stories they have been writing.

Mira with Gesture Drawing

Noah Drawing

Maddie with Wire Sculpture

Izzy's Wire Sculpture

Charlotte's Preliminary Sketch

The Writing Edition:

Today campers finished up their stories, revised, and began neatly copying their final drafts on notebook paper to be glued into their books that they began this morning in art. They look great!!